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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>$130k of machine parts stolen
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Teh Joo Lin & Kimberly Spykerman
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THIEVES sneaked onto two worksites under the cover of darkness this week and hauled away $130,000 worth of choice machine parts.
They took computer systems and engine dynamos from excavators and crushing machines, stalling operations at the worksites the following day.
Such thefts appear to be increasing, with an industry player estimating that 18 machines across the island have had their parts stolen in the past few months.
In the first of this week's thefts, the circuit boards of six excavators at a Dover Road construction site disappeared. They were worth $70,000.
Two days later, at a demolition site along Boon Keng Road, $58,000 worth of dynamos and circuit boards were taken from an excavator and four crushing machines used to smash up chunks of concrete.
Ms Karine Tang, administrative manager of Beng Soon Machinery Services which operated at the Boon Keng Road site, said about 30 of its excavators had been gutted in the past three years, delaying project completion times and raising costs.
Some excavators were hit again after their missing parts had been replaced, she added.
Pointing to the brazenness of the thefts, she said: 'Some of the areas were quite exposed, next to the main road. Yet the thieves took the risk.'
She said missing parts could take several months to source and replace, so the thefts may have led to the rise of a black market, with syndicates 'stealing on demand' to supply the parts in a shorter time.
When The Straits Times visited the Dover Road site yesterday, two of the six excavators that were hit had already had their missing parts replaced at a cost of about $20,000. The remaining four machines remained inoperable.
Ms Tang said her firm might need to hire night watchmen. Thirty cases of theft of construction equipment took place last year.
Gimme a break lah! I bz shadowing CSJ mah!
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Teh Joo Lin & Kimberly Spykerman
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THIEVES sneaked onto two worksites under the cover of darkness this week and hauled away $130,000 worth of choice machine parts.
They took computer systems and engine dynamos from excavators and crushing machines, stalling operations at the worksites the following day.
Such thefts appear to be increasing, with an industry player estimating that 18 machines across the island have had their parts stolen in the past few months.
In the first of this week's thefts, the circuit boards of six excavators at a Dover Road construction site disappeared. They were worth $70,000.
Two days later, at a demolition site along Boon Keng Road, $58,000 worth of dynamos and circuit boards were taken from an excavator and four crushing machines used to smash up chunks of concrete.
Ms Karine Tang, administrative manager of Beng Soon Machinery Services which operated at the Boon Keng Road site, said about 30 of its excavators had been gutted in the past three years, delaying project completion times and raising costs.
Some excavators were hit again after their missing parts had been replaced, she added.
Pointing to the brazenness of the thefts, she said: 'Some of the areas were quite exposed, next to the main road. Yet the thieves took the risk.'
She said missing parts could take several months to source and replace, so the thefts may have led to the rise of a black market, with syndicates 'stealing on demand' to supply the parts in a shorter time.
When The Straits Times visited the Dover Road site yesterday, two of the six excavators that were hit had already had their missing parts replaced at a cost of about $20,000. The remaining four machines remained inoperable.
Ms Tang said her firm might need to hire night watchmen. Thirty cases of theft of construction equipment took place last year.
Gimme a break lah! I bz shadowing CSJ mah!
